Many modem firearms used for combat or sporting activities are equipped with magazines capable of holding a plurality of cartridges. Such magazines can facilitate and simplify loading of individual cartridges into a firing chamber. A magazine is typically released manually from the firearm before another magazine with additional cartridges can be inserted into the firearm, e.g., to continue firing. For example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,241 issued to Christophe Degoix et al., reloading a magazine-adapted firearm typically involves pressing a magazine release button on the side of a magazine well of the firearm to release the magazine, pulling the magazine clear of the magazine well, storing it for later reuse, grasping a new magazine with cartridges in it, inserting the new magazine into the magazine well until it clicks into place, and then chambering a cartridge from the new magazine.
Typically, spare magazines may be carried in a protective pouch attached to a user's belt or carried in the user's pocket or the like. Certain firearms may also be configured to carry one or more spare magazines affixed to other parts of the firearm for convenience. However, the removal and insertion of additional magazines may present safety concerns for the user. For example, during reloading in a combat situation, a soldier or law enforcement official may be exposed to enemy fire and unable to continue firing until the reloading process is completed. As another example, an accidental discharge of the firearm may occur during a botched reloading procedure, e.g. with magazine-fed firearms. A prolonged period for reloading magazines can also affect, e.g., the overall firing speed of competitive skeet shooters.
Various systems have been developed to expedite and ease the carrying and/or reloading of additional magazines into a firearm. For example, multiple magazine holders can couple together two or more magazines so that a combatant or sportsman will have more than one magazine readily available for use with the weapon. Such holders can include, for example, magazines that are welded or otherwise affixed together. For example, a clip joining device for holding two clips end to end is described, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,238 issued to Schoepflin, a box-like protective device attachable to the weapon is described, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,484,404 issued to Johnson, and magazine doublers that are formed as a dual magazine holder to provide users the ability to quickly and efficiently reload rifles with a second magazine are described, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 7,497,043 issued to Clifton, Jr. et al. None of these references describe a firearm system that provides the ability to store and automatically or semi-automatically introduce spare magazines into the active magazine well of a weapon.
Accordingly, there is a need for a firearm capable of storing one or more spare firearm magazines that further facilitates the automatic or semi-automatic exchange of magazines into the active magazine well of the firearm upon the partial or full exhaustion of cartridges from the active magazine.